I don’t blame Dan Sansky for hanging up. If I were him, I wouldn’t talk to me. I found Sansky’s cellphone number on his employment application at the County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS), where he is maintenance supervisor.
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DICKSON CITY — State Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Saturday, recalling the discrimination Irish immigrants faced when they came to the United States, blasted the prejudice that exists today.
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Car insurance rates are at an all-time high nationwide and rates are rising fast in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton area, according to a recent study by The Zebra, a car insurance comparison marketplace.
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Editor: Scranton City Council continues to submit ways to generate revenue by inventing rude commercial ventures. The most recent is an impound yard for disabled or unattended vehicles.

Everyone I know who has had similar misfortune was in a bad financial situation and was working to fix the problem. If they had their vehicle impounded, they would never have enough money to get it back. Eventually they would lose it and the city would have to auction broken cars that came from distressed residents.

This is a nasty way of generating income, like on those repossession shows on cable.

Maybe city council should get off ECTV and go right to the big time. Broadcast "American Taxation" and generate revenue through advertising. I'm sure Depends and the Scooter Store and AFLAC would be just a few of the sponsors willing to jump on our local demographic consumer base.

CHRISTOPHER KOVELESKI

CLARKS SUMMIT

Sign 'em up

Editor: Scranton hopes to raise more than $350,000 in new revenue next year by selling advertisements on city property. Here are some suggestions:

- At the federal courthouse: "Are you a corrupt NEPA politician or judge? Stop by for a speedy trial. Call 1-800-COUNTRY CLUB for appointment. Have your golf clubs ready. Friendly feds are standing by!"

- On Scranton City Hall: "This building is sponsored by Acme Hamster Wheels. Just like your little furry pal in his cage, we go around in circles all day and never get anywhere."

- On any street in the city: "Play Pothole Bingo, the new game from the Pennsylvania Lottery. Win big bucks if you hit a specially designated crater." (Prizes not to exceed the cost of complete re-alignment by either your mechanic or your chiropractor).

- On police cars: "Support your men and women in blue by trying the little pill of the same color. Viagra, available at minimum-wage prices.

VINCE MORABITO

SCRANTON

Stop borrowing

Editor: Scranton has been a distressed city since Jan. 10, 1992, nearly 21 years ago. The Scranton City Council supermajority promised that if elected it would put the people first.

The proposed 2013 Scranton budget totals $109 million for a city whose population is declining. The budget includes no layoffs but calls for raises for six appointed employees. How can this be?

City council and the mayor are asking workers who reside outside the city to pay an additional 1 percent commuter tax to support the financially distressed city while they are doling out raises to two attorneys, a business administrator, the fire chief, and two administrative appointed employees.

The mayor and city council want to raise property taxes by 12 percent to pay for past mistakes.

Nonprofits pay very little in lieu of taxes. It appears that they will not be paying more in 2013. Yet, more raises are proposed.

Most taxpayers don't mind paying higher taxes if the money is being spent wisely and the people are put first. I do not see that happening in this proposed budget. Only six appointed city employees are being put first.

If the nonprofits are not willing to pay a little extra then you should not ask their employees to pay extra.

As taxes are raised to pay for the sins of the past, I strongly recommend that the city stop borrowing to prevent the sins of the future.

Stop spending money you do not have and have no way of generating. Make the hard choices.

BILL JACKOWITZ

SCRANTON

Lifesavers worthy

Editor: In his Dec. 3 letter, David B. Taylor stated the city's fire and police unions will be getting annual 2 percent raises over the next three years that will total $1,266,276. He implied these raises hurt the city more than raises proposed for six employees.

These people deserve every penny they get. They go into houses to save lives when everyone else is running out.

The people designated in the budget for the huge raises aren't saving anyone's life.

Mr. Taylor omitted how the unions made a big compromise, saving the city $15 million in a $30 million court-ordered settlement. So it's not the unions who are hurting the city more.

LES SPINDLER

SCRANTON

Hardly inspiring

Editor: I was struck by your newspaper's choice of the headline, "Inspired Chiefs win for teammate" for the Dec. 3 story about the Kansas City Chief's victory over the Carolina Panthers in the wake of the Jovan Belcher murder-suicide.

Saying that anyone could have been inspired by those circumstances is difficult to swallow, but to say they won for their teammate is a huge disservice to your readers.

It is difficult to report about suicides of public figures because it runs the risk of glorifying these acts for people who may be considering it. (Anyone who is having these thoughts should speak to someone they trust, seek professional help, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.)

But to make the claim that these players came together and won a game for their teammate, who gunned down the mother of his infant child and then took his own life in front of team staff, is insulting to anyone with common decency, and insulting to the Kansas City Chiefs.

This was an awful tragedy from which those affected will take years or, in some cases, their whole lives to recover, not a rallying point to win a football game.

I hope in the future the paper makes more informed decisions when choosing which articles to run and how to run them.

CARM PERRY

CARBONDALE

No merit

Editor: Why is it taking so long to end pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania? We had them in Jessup when I was a kid. They put an end to the shooting and noise.

It's a cruel practice. The bird is shot with pellets that often wound it. A runner would have to find the bird and wring its neck.

The Humane Society should take another look.

LEN KATO SR.

PECKVILLE

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